Merry Christmas, Lily Evans!
by Goddess of Purple Squirrels
Summary: Why wasn't Lily having a merry Christmas? Well, it could be that her sister doesn't want her home, she's brownie deprieved or she's falling for someone she swore she wouldn't...wait, that was the good part.


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody! I know you would want a update on Posing a Question, but my muse wouldn't leave me alone about this. It's the longest thing I've ever wrote, so be proud.

Disclaimer: Not mine, JKR's Deathly Hallows!

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Snow was falling outside the grey rock windows of the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dorms. Even with the red curtains the scene would have looked lonely, and it did, to the sole occupant of the room, a girl with hair as red as the curtains.

Lily Evans sighed as her owl faded out of sight into the snowy air. It was a notice to her parents that she wouldn't be coming home over the Christmas break. She had never stayed over at Hogwarts before. Her excuse in the letter said that because she was Head Girl she had to stay over, but in actuality it was because of her sister, Petunia. Petunia was, well, normal. And that was the problem. When they were young, she and Petunia were best friends, until one summer evening in the summer she was eleven and Petunia was twelve when an owl swept in the open window carrying her Hogwarts letter. It was all downhill from there.

She knew Petunia would not want her to come this Christmas. It seemed like the last twinge of the old sisterhood connection before it collapsed altogether. This year, according to the stiff, uncomfortable letters that their mother made them write to each other, she had a new boyfriend and would much rather he didn't know about Lily.

Lily Evans was a witch, you see, and had been going to Hogwarts, a magical school, for the past seven years. Petunia and their parents were non-magical, or Muggles, Petunia especially hating every aspect of the "non-normal" life.

As for Petunia having a boyfriend, well, that brought up yet another problem. She, herself, had not had a boyfriend since fifth year. Her friend Samantha had certainly thought that this was a pressing problem. Well, no use being annoyed over that. She sat up. It was her turn to patrol.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

James Potter watched Lily Evans walk down the corridor with mild surprise and apprehension. She did not look to happy, and that usually did not bode well for him. She reached him, but only said "Potter, my turn" in a relatively mild voice before walking away.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

"Wait, Lily, I thought you weren't staying over." Potter called after me as I began to patrol.

So we had touched on that again.

"I wasn't," I muttered, shaking him off and walking off. He quickly caught up with me. Darn his long legs.

"Well, why? I didn't suppose it was to keep me company."

To my astonishment, I almost laughed.

"No, of course not."

"Well, I'm off. I'll get it out of you, never you worry."

I didn't.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

James walked off into the Great Hall, determined to find out why Lily was staying over, as well as being rather depressed. She was just not that kind of person, and it was one of the things he liked about her.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

Done with her patrol, Lily ran (well, walked quickly) back to the common room. She had a book to read. The only person other than her in the room was a tiny little second year. She wondered slightly why a kid that little would be staying over but was soon lost in her book.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

James was walking down the hallway to the fields when he came upon a large tree blocking his way.

"Need some help, Hagrid?"

"Sure, jus' turn this en' over towards the door."

Together they moved the last tree into the Great Hall, where Professor Flitwick was levitating small glowing balls onto the trees before it.

"James, if it wouldn't be any trouble, would you get Lily for me? I heard she was staying over and she could help me with this tree,"

That he had no problem with.

"Sure, Professor,"

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

She was just getting to the good part when Potter interrupted her.

"Hey, Lily!" he shouted across the common room.

"What?" she yelled back. She was in no mood for jokes.

"Got a band-aid?"

_What? _

"What?"

"'Cause I scraped my knee falling for you!"

Wow. I don't think it gets cornier than that.

"Sod off, Potter."

"Language, Evans. I'm here to tell you that Professor Flitwick wants you in the Great Hall to help him decorate the trees."

Tree decorating! It was her favourite thing to do when she was young. She and Petunia had taken turns to put the star on the top, from their father's shoulders. However, she said warily,

"This better not be a joke."

He said nothing, just stared at her.

"Do you even know what a band-aid is?"

"No," he said and ran up the stairs.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

Gold and silver balls blossomed from the tip of her wand as she stood in the Great Hall. A slight noise under her feet told her that the house elves were preparing tomorrow's feast. Her stomach growled; she had not eaten since morning. With one last flick, she secured the last glowing ball onto the tree and ran off to the kitchen doors.

Tickling the pear, grabbing the handle, she jumped in the door to a scene of mayhem. Small green creatures as high as your knee ran around the kitchen, bearing large platters of food. Set in the middle were four large tables, corresponding to the House tables above, already laden with golden plates. The delicious odour promised a good meal.

A house elf appeared a Lily's feet.

"Can Tibby get Miss Lily anything?"

"Well, you look so busy and all…"

"Nothing, Miss! We liking being busy!"

"A ham-and-potato-chip sandwich and water, then, please,"

The house elf appeared a minute later, carrying the above items. She was just about to sink her teeth into the crunchiness of the potato chips when…

"Fancy seeing you here, Miss Evans."

James sodding Potter, again.

"Not you again."

"Of course it's me again! Who else would it be?"

Well, that was true. Who else _would _it be?

"Brownies, please,"

A house elf came up to him with a plate of mouth-watering brownies. Golden, fresh, soft, chewy brownies. Glistening surfaces promising chocolaty chewyness. No, she does NOT want his brownies.

"Brownies?"

No she would not, no she would not, she would not.

But they were so deliciously tempting. James wafted the brownie fumes under her nose, and she leaned towards that delicious smell and consequently, towards James. Torn between those two sides, she leaned over… and fell from her wooden bench and onto him.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

The plate previously laden with brownies flew through the air in a graceful arc. The plate landed with a clank in the corner. The brownies splattered onto the floor, where they magically disappeared.

"Noooo!" I attempted to spring up to rescue my beloved brownies, but found myself entwined with none other than James Potter. I quickly untangled myself from him but found, to my horror that a blush was spreading from the backs of my ears, like a stain, across my face.

"You okay?"

I wondered if being brownie deprived and turning into a human tomato (complete with hair) counted as okay.

"Obviously not,"

"Well, they were _my _brownies"

"You _had_ to offer them to me,"

"And you _had _to smell them."

Suddenly, I noticed the brown-hazelness of his eyes. And I lost my next retort.

"Well, um, you had to be here."

Nice, Lily, smooth. Now's a good time to run away. So I did, and the last thing I saw was Potter, laughing his head off.

Darn his brownies.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

As usual, the house elves had outdone themselves with the Christmas Eve feast. Normally, the feast would have been on Christmas, but Dumbledore had rescheduled it to Christmas Eve, saying he had a "surprise" on Christmas. With Dumbledore, it was best not to ask.

There was only one table, as there was so little of them, with You-Know-Who on the rise, but hey, it's Christmas. Time for cheer. And the teachers were certainly achieving that.

"To your health!" shouted Professor Slughorn, rather red in the face.

"An' a Merry Chris'mas!" said Hagrid, equally as loud. Beside them, Professor Dumbledore was pulling a cracker with Professor Merryweather. There was a bang, white smoke and several white mice, (the second-year next to Lily squeaked. She didn't, she thought they were rather cute.) and also a rather large pirate's eye-patch. Chortling, Dumbledore slipped it on under his half-moon glasses.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

"Cracker?" said James from across the table.

She glared at him but pulled it. It was better not to have a repeat of the brownie incident. As expected, there was a puff of white smoke and mice, and then…nothing. Well, almost nothing. Through the vapour there was a glitter…

"Ooooh," said Professor Trelawney, the divination teacher. "When a ring appears to two pullers of a cracker, they will be married."

For the second time that day, she turned into a human tomato. She knew what he was going to say…

"What happens if both pullers are guys?"

And that was not it.

"Gross, Potter, I never knew you were gay,"

But she slipped the ring onto her finger.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

The next morning, Lily woke up early like always on Christmas. However, her happy screech was only met by silence and she remembered that she was not home with her family or with her friends. There was, though, a large pile of presents at her feet and she got to work opening them.

She was halfway through (book from her parents, candy from Samantha, and the customary card from Petunia) when she heard Dumbledore's magically megaphoned voice call for them to gather in the Great Hall, for the "surprise".

Not knowing what to expect, she grabbed her sweater and scarf. Struck by a sudden idea, she jumped on the banister, which was a lot longer and wider than any at home and rode down like a child again, landing, still laughing in a heap at the bottom. She wondered why she hadn't thought of this before. She looked up, and met the amused eyes of none other than James Potter.

"So, our perfect prefect and Head Girl, sliding down banisters?" he said in a mock disappointed voice.

"I was just…er, dusting."

"Is that so? Well, you might try 'dusting' the stairs in the front hallway. Lot longer, and the have carpet in case you fall."

"Have you tried it?"

"We used to have races at night!"

Lily didn't think she could picture shy, studious Remus racing down a banister.

"Walk you down to the Great Hall?"

She opened her mouth for some ready snap but was not prepared for what came out.

"Sure,"

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

When they had gotten to the Great Hall, they found the tables cleared away and the center of it converted into a large ice rink. Snow fell from the enchanted ceiling, vanishing before it hit the ground. Professor McGonagall stood in front of the students with a rather disapproving look on her face.

"Professor Dumbledore has decided, to provide some holiday spirit, to have a skating party inside. You will find skates in your size in the bin at the right. I must remind you that the rules will still be upheld on the ice. That is all." Her expression softened. "And have a Merry Christmas."

The bin had skates for everybody, as well as helmets for those not as experienced. Lily glided over the ice, rather wobbly on her feet, er, skates. James glided over expertly.

"Need some help?"

Pride was not that important when she was on the verge of falling over.

"Fine…"

Suddenly, she found herself being lighter as James grabbed her hands and pulled her across the ice. Screaming and laughing at the same time, she allowed herself to be led over the rink. They spun at the center and stopped, breathless, at the edge.

"Since when do you know how to skate?" she asked.

"The great James Potter knows everything." He said, mock affronted. "You do know how to skate, I think, but forgotten it a little."

"My family lived much further north than we do now. Me and my sister used to go skating together." Even though she smiled, James saw a shadow go over her eyes at the mention of her sister.

"Your sister…?" he prompted.

"Petunia. She's a year older than I am. I'm Muggle-born."

"So she knows about magic?"

Lily laughed, albeit rather bitterly. "Yes. But she doesn't like it, I think. Seems to go over her normality complex."

"So does she like you?"

Even his gentle questioning hurt, but she had to tell someone.

"Yes, no, I don't know! We were so close before, but she seems withdrawn now, because of my magic, and, well, I sometimes feel as if she hates me."

She knew James didn't feel sorry for her, which was good, because she didn't want pity. However, she felt as if he understood a bit better than she did.

"I think she's jealous of you,"

"Jealous? Of what?"

"Who wouldn't? Your looks, your brains, just the way you walk."

She blushed. As much as she thought she looked like a tomato, he thought it was cute. Her cheeks were pink, drowning out her freckles, which he thought were cute too, but hey, you can't have everything. He felt like he should kiss her right now, they were leaning closer...

And suddenly, a bell rang, calling them off the ice for resurfacing (of the ice) and hot chocolate (for them). They skated off reluctantly, Lily with her cheeks redder than before.

♠♣♥♦♠♣♥♦

"Hey Lily,"

It was evening, and the fire crackled merrily in the grate. Lily was sitting with her book like before, but her eyes were gazing into the fire. James gently touched her shoulder.

"I want to show you something."

He led her down halls and a corridor. Finally they stopped before an ordinary looking door.

"Just think of anything, anything at all that you want."

"And?"

"Walk across this door three times."

"This better not be a joke."

"You know me too well."

"I think so too," But she was laughing.

She walked facing the door three times, eyes closed to show that she was thinking.

"Ok..."

The door opened.

There was a comfortable sofa, and a fire crackling in the grate. A large Christmas tree adorned with child-made ornaments stood in the corner.

"This is where you grew up, isn't it?"

"Yes,"

She sat in the sofa, looking into the fire with a smile.

"That's what's been bothering you, isn't it? Your sister."

"Well, it was."

"Told you I'd figure it out."

"I never said you wouldn't"

She stood up to walk across the room.

"Just like I remembered it."

She smiled, standing in front of the Christmas tree.

"You know what would be perfect?"

"No,"

He walked towards her.

"Look up,"

She did, and then raised her eyebrows.

"Mistletoe,"

"Merry Christmas, Lily," he said, before catching her lips in a kiss.

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You know what would be a good present? Reviews! 


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